Victim Of A Brutal Rape Working To Help Others

WINTER PARK — The most amazing thing about Sharon Komlos may not be that she survived being shot in the head, blinded, raped repeatedly, stabbed and left for dead in South Florida 10 years ago.

From what she told about 50 people at Rollins College this week, it may be more striking that she has overcome this brutal experience without a trace of bitterness, anger or depression.

Komlos now travels the country giving motivational speeches to schools, women's groups and professional organizations. It's how she makes her living while her husband stays home, clips coupons and takes care of the children.

Komlos received no counseling but said she never experienced problems with anger, depression, self-destructive behavior or any of the other psychological problems that can follow a rape.

''That man took 11 hours of my life and my eyesight. He's not taking one second more,'' Komlos said. Of her blindness, she said, ''I can't change it, so I don't give it a lot of thought.''

Komlos, now 41, was driving home from her job as an insurance adjustor in Boca Raton in May 1980 when a car pulled up alongside her as if to pass. The last thing she saw was a flash of light. She heard a sound as though a car had backfired.

She said she felt pressure in her head, then the warm trickle of blood down the side of her face. Driving alone, the young mother of three was able to pull her car off the road. She leaned on the horn until someone came to help, offering to drive her to a hospital.

''I was so grateful for a good Samaritan's assistance,'' Komlos said during her appearance at Rollins in conjunction with National Victims' Rights Week.

But this was no ''good Samaritan.'' Instead, it was the man who had shot her. But she didn't know that yet.

When they arrived at what supposed to be the hospital, Komlos said she was shoved onto a mattress on the floor of what turned out to be the man's apartment. She was raped repeatedly, stabbed several times and smothered with a pillow.

She escaped the next morning by faking that she was dead. Her attacker was convicted and sentenced to life in jail.

The bullet had entered the left side of her head, ripped through her eye tissue and gone out the right side of her head. Komlos said she knew immediately that she would never see again.

After she finally got to a real hospital the next morning, Komlos required five hours of surgery. But she was out of the hospital in seven days.

Emotionally, she recovered faster than she did from her physical injuries. Because she had plastic eyes inserted, Komlos does not appear blind to the casual observer. She switched from her original green eyes in favor of a light blue.

She said she resolved not just to cope with her problems but rather to overcome them - in spite of the fact that she lost her job and her first marriage soon broke up.

Don't worry about ''what if,'' Komlos advised her listeners in one of three appearances sponsored by the Orange County Sheriff's Office and Rape Response, a victim-advocate group. Instead, ''ask 'what now?' ''

Komlos has written a book and told her story on network television talk shows and in women's magazines around the world. She travels around the country to more than 100 speaking appearances a year.

She said people who know of rape victims who have not reported the crime should encourage the victims to seek help from Rape Response. She also advised women not to send out ''mixed signals'' to men.

''It's not against the law for a woman to dress seductively or to invite a man up to her apartment,'' she said. ''But it is against the law for a man to force himself on a woman. . . . If you say no, make it clear.''